Port Adelaide 2017

[bennymacca]

Anyway, done well - not a bad looking side.. you picked the best 22.. but I asked you who you would not want at the Crows, not who fits in your best 22

Which players if the Crows said they were targeting to recruit would you say "eww no way!" e.g. Jake Neade - I just dont see him as an AFL footballer.

Well I've probably made it clear by now I don't rate ports second and third tier so I wouldn't want too many of them.

Wines is the one I would take in a heartbeat. He is a bull and would probably put us second faves for the flag imo

[valleys07]

This'll be good.....

can someone arrange the beers???

Alright, here we go. Dont be too harsh on me please booney

I could only find room for 7 port players in my combined team. I used the AFL.com.au "projected" teams

Brown Hombsch Lever
Smith Talia Laird
Gray Crouch Boak
Lynch Walker Wingard
Betts Jenkins McGovern
Jacobs Sloane Wines

Hartlett Ryder Atkins Cameron

Pittard and B Crouch miss due to injury
Westhoff - reckon mcgovern and lynch have him coverd
Trengove - poor man's talia really. Went with Hombsch instead
Ebert - went with the pace and ball use of Atkins and Cameron
Broadbent - stiff to miss but isnt ahead of laird smith or pittard
Polec - could easily have him instead of atkins or cameron.

You can also make a case that Ryder misses as you dont need to play two rucks

Interesting.

Ill have a crack, using the same logic re. injury:

FB: Brown Talia Hombsch
HB: Smith Trengove Laird
C: Polec Wines Atkins
HF: Lynch Walker Wingard
FF: Betts Jenkins McGovern

1R: Jacobs Sloane R.Gray

IC: Lever Boak M.Crouch Ebert

I found room for 8, with a few changes to your side.

Don't rate Cameron as highly as you do. I think he is an improvement on Impey, but skills are still average.

I have gone Trengove as the pure CHB who can pinch hit in the Ruck when Jacobs rests. A competent stopper ahead of Hartigan. I don't view Hombsch as a full back, rather a BP/HB who is very useful as that intercept and rebound defender. Just ahead of Lever, who is on my bench.

Gray and Boak are not wingmen, they are on ball rotations. Gray and Sloane are clearly the best pure on ball players for their respective sides, and Wines ahead of Thompson as centre. Both M.Crouch and Boak on the bench as on ball rotation.

Polec is Port's #1 wingman, Atkins looking very good to assume that role at Adelaide. Both good fits there.

Our forward line's are identical, no arguments there. Adelaide have the best Forward Line in the competition.

I struggled with I4, and went with Ebert as he is probably the only mid in either side capable of playing as an inside and outside midfielder.

[bennymacca]

Cant argue with your logic there Valleys.

Agree with your arguments about putting wingmen on the wings etc.

Your bench of Boak Crouch Ebert looks a little slow for me, that was one of the reasons I had cameron and hartlett in my side. But then i could have taken out Ryder too

Fair point about Hombsch. Both he and lever will be very good players

[Lightning McQueen]

And yet you found round room for Hartlett in there Benny. Would be a dozen Port players who should get the nod ahead of him

Hartlett's best is excellent and I think he's in for a good season.

[Rik E Boy]

And yet you found round room for Hartlett in there Benny. Would be a dozen Port players who should get the nod ahead of him

Hartlett's best is excellent and I think he's in for a good season.

Goes when he feels like it. If it gets tough he goes missing every time. Has talent though.

regards,

REB

[Brodlach]

Port supporters have such a high regard for Polec, I for one just don't get it. If he played any wider on the oval he would in aisle M

[valleys07]

Cant argue with your logic there Valleys.

Agree with your arguments about putting wingmen on the wings etc.

Your bench of Boak Crouch Ebert looks a little slow for me, that was one of the reasons I had cameron and hartlett in my side. But then i could have taken out Ryder too

Fair point about Hombsch. Both he and lever will be very good players

Yeah I can see your point of view re. the midfield rotation. I think throughout 2013-15, Boak was a very good contested player and was explosive in space. I think he has speed, but struggles when getting close attention at the stoppage. Obviously Ebert doesn't have the speed of Cameron, but I think Ebert is capable of playing inside and outside, making him a more versatile option.

Hartlett is an obvious exclusion for mine. Well and truly superseded by Laird, Smith, Pittard and Broadbent as half back flankers. Still haven't worked out if it's injury (or the potential for) holding Hamish back from becoming part of Port's midfield rotation, but he would live up to his potential if he was a midfielder rotating forward. He won't realise that at HB, i'm afraid.

[Booney]

Port supporters have such a high regard for Polec, I for one just don't get it. If he played any wider on the oval he would in aisle M

Takes all types to make a side, plenty of running wing men like him don't do much heavy lifting. He's behind the 8 ball with me though, as mentioned above, some efforts at AFL level last year were ordinary at best and his demeanor when he went back to the Magpies didn't thrill me. Unlike the vastly less talented Kane Mitchell who threw everything he had at every game he played, just didn't have the game to be an AFL footballer, if only Polec had his heart/balls.

[valleys07]

Port supporters have such a high regard for Polec, I for one just don't get it. If he played any wider on the oval he would in aisle M

If we were talking Polec circa 2011-14, absolutely.

Has improved his contested game since then (still very much an outside player still) IMO, and runs the direct lines now, which makes his line breaking much more effective.

I do agree with Boon's sentiments from a couple of pages back re. his stint in the SANFL last season and the reasons behind it, but he looks set for a big year this season if he has his head switched on and can remain injury free.

[bennymacca]

good point about mitchell - clearly didnt have the skills for AFL but you gotta admire his workrate. Young is a bit the same too, reckon he gives his all most of the time.

[Brodlach]

I am no fan at all of Troy Menzel, I think we (the Crows) are in trouble if he plays but I would even take him before Polec. Polec's best games came when Hinkley bought in the run game style but as soon as teams worked that plan out Polec has become null and void.


Not trolling just having a footy discussion

[bennymacca]

I am no fan at all of Troy Menzel, I think we (the Crows) are in trouble if he plays but I would even take him before Polec. Polec's best games came when Hinkley bought in the run game style but as soon as teams worked that plan out Polec has become null and void.


Not trolling just having a footy discussion

I dont rate menzel either. I thought he was a good get when we got him from carlton but hasnt even looked like getting near our team. And players like Atkins Knight Milera have all flown past him.

[Booney]

good point about mitchell - clearly didnt have the skills for AFL but you gotta admire his workrate. Young is a bit the same too, reckon he gives his all most of the time.

You're under rating Young a bit, I think. As valleys has mentioned, his 37 goals last year in a side struggling for any sort of direction going forward was more than Mitch McGovern, Lindsay Thomas, Michael Walters and Daniel Menzel, who you could say all play similar roles.

Youngy was excellent last week against Hawthorn and I think Gus Monfries would have dropped his shoulders a little, would have seen his spot taken, perhaps for good.

I felt we were building him into a K.Cornes run with type replacement and that he had some real ability there, turns out he was a forward as a junior and looked a natural up there early in '16 as he covered for Monfries.

[Brodlach]

Does the club also under rate Young too then as he only got a one year contract last season? (I'm sure that is correct)

[Booney]

Does the club also under rate Young too then as he only got a one year contract last season? (I'm sure that is correct)

Bit of him, bit of the club I think.

He signed mid-year when, although going ok, probably hadn't really cemented his spot. He's a Victorian lad who had some interest shown in him during the trade period at the end of 2015, would have been offered some more opportunity elsewhere at the time. Since then Monfries had a year out and he was 2nd for our goal kicking. I'd hope he's locked in for a year or two sometime this year.

[amber_fluid]

Does the club also under rate Young too then as he only got a one year contract last season? (I'm sure that is correct)

Bit of him, bit of the club I think.

He signed mid-year when, although going ok, probably hadn't really cemented his spot. He's a Victorian lad who had some interest shown in him during the trade period at the end of 2015, would have been offered some more opportunity elsewhere at the time. Since then Monfries had a year out and he was 2nd for our goal kicking. I'd hope he's locked in for a year or two sometime this year.

He has played half a season of good footy.....surely he gets a 5 year contract like Hartlett, Jonas, Lobbe, Dixon............

[bennymacca]

Was more talking about his effort rather than his skills. His season was very good last year

[Booney]

Does the club also under rate Young too then as he only got a one year contract last season? (I'm sure that is correct)

Bit of him, bit of the club I think.

He signed mid-year when, although going ok, probably hadn't really cemented his spot. He's a Victorian lad who had some interest shown in him during the trade period at the end of 2015, would have been offered some more opportunity elsewhere at the time. Since then Monfries had a year out and he was 2nd for our goal kicking. I'd hope he's locked in for a year or two sometime this year.

He has played half a season of good footy.....surely he gets a 5 year contract like Hartlett, Jonas, Lobbe, Dixon............

Well, Lobbe was very good in 2014 and led us to a prelim, we didn't know Ryder was coming at that point so locking him in was in order, how he has fallen. Massive fail.

Dixon, as a free agent, with Schulz close to the end and Westhoff 29 when we got Dixon, you wouldn't have got him for any less than a 5 year deal and we needed a big man up front. Don't think this one can be marked yet.

Hartlett and Jonas won't get much argument from me about, Jonas especially. Both TBC.

[whufc]

Does the club also under rate Young too then as he only got a one year contract last season? (I'm sure that is correct)

Bit of him, bit of the club I think.

He signed mid-year when, although going ok, probably hadn't really cemented his spot. He's a Victorian lad who had some interest shown in him during the trade period at the end of 2015, would have been offered some more opportunity elsewhere at the time. Since then Monfries had a year out and he was 2nd for our goal kicking. I'd hope he's locked in for a year or two sometime this year.

He split up with his semi long term partner at that exact time as well

[amber_fluid]

He has played half a season of good footy.....surely he gets a 5 year contract like Hartlett, Jonas, Lobbe, Dixon............

Well, Lobbe was very good in 2014 and led us to a prelim, we didn't know Ryder was coming at that point so locking him in was in order, how he has fallen. Massive fail.

Dixon, as a free agent, with Schulz close to the end and Westhoff 29 when we got Dixon, you wouldn't have got him for any less than a 5 year deal and we needed a big man up front. Don't think this one can be marked yet.

Hartlett and Jonas won't get much argument from me about, Jonas especially. Both TBC.

If someone sees Booney, can they please tell him someone is using his login on here and posting honest assessments of his footy club.